MONICA
DANVERS
Real Name:
Jessica Deianeira Troy
Occupation:
Paranormal Adventurer, Heiress
Legal Status:
Citizen of the United States of America with no criminal record
Identity: Public
Other Aliases:
None known
Place of Birth:
Marital Status: Single
Known Relatives:
Peter (father, deceased), Donna (mother), Logan
(brother), Sara, Alicia, Patricia (sisters), Allison (sister-in-law), Brittany,
Kelly (nieces), Samantha, Carolyn (aunts), Greg, Adam (uncles), Marilyn
(maternal grandmother, possibly deceased), Vanessa
(great-grandmother)
Group Affiliations: former member of the Trans-Allegheny Paranormal Society, ally of the Collinsport Ghost Society
Base of Operations:
Webster, West Virginia
First Appearance: Tales From the Crypt II #36
History: Monica Danvers is a member of the prominent and influential Reason family, one of the top ten wealthiest families in the United States. Although her ancestry includes Italian and German influences, the Reason family has mostly embraced their ancient Greek ancestry with homes in France, England, Germany and the United States with decidedly ancient Greek influences. Several members of the family embrace a reverence for the paranormal in addition to Ancient Greek culture, going as far as acquiring property through the world for the paranormal activity attributed to these structures. Monica's mother, Donna Troy, acquired legal custody of the Belasco Mansion, a reputed haunted edifice in upstate Maine in order to restore it, later making her home. Her aunt, Samantha Reason, purchased the long deserted Dearborn Hotel in the mountain heights of Ohio, to turn into a residence, but she invariably became encouraged in reopening it back into a hotel.
Monica's brother, Jason Troy, founded the Trans-Allegheny Paranormal Society out of the old Tisdale House near Webster, West Virginia. His partners in the venture included Cole Russell, a police officer and electronics expert, Matt Winchester, an architect with photographic skills, and Sam Redbow, a special effects artist with a Native American heritage. Under her birth name, Monica followed her brother along on assignments as their equipment tech, later altering her identity to avoid an abusive former boyfriend. It is possible she took her name from a known haunted location, the Danvers Mental Hospital, near Danvers, Massachusetts, which she had visited. Going from brunette to blonde, she also started acting as an investigator and researcher for the group.
Bored with the regular duties of her life as an heiress, Monica spent a few years of her life following her brother around the world looking for proof of life after death, but Matt soon lost his life to cancer. As per a boyhood promise, Jason, Cole and Sam tried to contact him through a séance but they were never successful. The group broke up afterward and Jason changed his identity to Logan Pendragon, searching the world for supposed lake monsters, vampires, forest hominids and any other creature whose report crossed his desk. Remaining true to the spirit of the group, Monica went solo in her paranormal research. She moved her headquarters from the Tisdale House to the former Bathory Mansion, another haunted location, in order to save it from the wrecking ball. Monica believes the place is haunted by as many as twenty surviving personalities, including a phantom manservant, two young girls, an African American maid and a lady in white.
In the course of her investigations, Monica mostly resorts on her psychic gifts and then using technology to confirm her findings. She's been accused of being a fraud perpetuating hoaxes on the general public, a declaration she vehemently denies, but she's been touted as one of the best researchers in the field. She's not above working with others, but she prefers working alone in order to be sure of the source and veracity of the activity she experiences. At Waverly Sanitarium in Kentucky, she was encouraged by a team of amateur ghost hunters from Tennessee State University to help back up a hoax, since her credentials would give them some veracity, but she instead exposed the fraudulent claims of the amateur ghost hunters involved. When the college students lost their school-funding to study the paranormal as part of their curriculum, they turned to a rabid character assassination on Monica and her work. Above facing their baseless attacks, Monica instead offered them a chance to redeem their reputation by inviting them on a investigation at Vannacutt Sanitarium in California, even paying their way to join her. Leading them into the labyrinth of rooms and corridors under the sanitarium, she them left them alone to explore the exterior grounds on her own knowing full well that the atmosphere of the location would prey on their fears and insecurities. When she returned to "rescue" them later, the students opted to forget ever exploring another haunted location.
Despite the attacks, Monica is greatly respected by her peers
in the field. The Collinsport
Ghost Society has
invited her on several investigations to benefit from her psychic gifts. Both
Nick Sidle and Brian Carradine of the CGS have pursued her romantically while
Monica has found herself in a romantic situation once or twice with the group's
team leader, William
Collins. The Atlantic
Paranormal Society in Rhode Island has been amused at times by her passion for the paranormal, but her
experience has more than made up for their initial impressions of her. Monica
also lent her support to petition the restoration of Rose
Red in Washington from being demolished. In the course of her adventures,
Monica has visited the Hotel Overlook in Colorado,
Hull House Mortuary
in
Washington, The Queen Mary, Winchester House and the Spears
House in California, The Borden House in Massachusetts, Eastern State
Penitentiary in Pennsylvania and the Dolphin Hotel in New York City. She has
also stayed with her mother at the former Belasco House in Maine several times.
While she has visited the majority of the most famous or
"over-exposed" haunted houses in the world, her favorites are the
obscure under-appreciated locations not quite so known because she is not quite
so susceptible to being familiar with them when she does an investigation.
Height: 5' 9"
Weight: 120 lbs.
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Blonde
Strength Level: Monica Danvers possesses the normal human strength level
of a woman of her size, height and build who engages in extensive physical
activities.
Known Superhuman Powers: Monica Danvers possesses a number of
psychic skills. She is highly susceptible to psychic activity, enabling to perceive
clairvoyant stimuli from the astral spirits of people who have died (ghosts).
She can sense
spirits, perceive information about these people from when they were alive,
converse with spirits, discern between benevolent beings and malignant spirits
or demons. She is sometimes subject to random prophetic visions enabling her to
see visions of the probable future, but no more than a few hours ahead of her;
events occurring much further in the future can be affected by her current
activities in the timeline.
When Monica becomes angry or upset, she can unconsciously cause psychokinetic events to occur in the form of poltergeist activity. She has caused microwaves to explode, windows to shatter, doors to slam and objects to fly in a direction away from her person. She has no conscious control over this power.
Abilities: Monica Danvers is in top physical shape,
keeping herself through a serious rigorous calisthenics routine of exercise,
swimming, aerobics, running, boxing and wrestling. She is well versed in the
martial arts. Monica Danvers is also one of the world's top experts in
paranormal activity (sans the fields of cryptozoology and UFOlogy). She is also
very adept in the use of a bow and arrow.
Weapons/Paraphernalia: Monica Danvers is known to carry a Walther PPK and
a double-edged silver dagger in her boot. As a paranormal researcher, she uses a
number of objects to guide her in her research, including a Branson electromagnetic
detector, heat-sensitive cameras, goggles that read invisible light, sound-sensitive
recorders, motion-activated cameras and a number of video cameras, each serving
a separate purpose. As defense against demonic energies, she also carries Holy
Water, enchanted silver crucifixes and crosses.
Pets: Monica has two Siamese cats named Rasputin and Vladimir.
Clarifications: Monica Danvers is not to be
confused with:
Last updated: 06/03/12